Rainbows…Mother Natures Artwork.

Well, sadly, no pot of gold exsist at the end of rainbows but they are pretty to look at. Sure, we’ve all seen them but have you every wonder how they form?

You remember those prisms from science class that created the spectrum of light? Well, the same process is involved with rainbows. Raindrops act as little individual prisms. As the “white” sunlight passes through the raindrop the light refracts, or bends. This bending breaks the white light into the array of colors we see in a rainbow. I was taught an easy way to remember the order of colors…Roy G. Biv or, ”R.O.Y.G.B.I.V.” Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

The rainbows can only be visible when your back is to the sun and you are facing falling rain the white light is reflected and refracted inside the raindrop and split into the various colors. The “secondary” fainter rainbow is caused by raindrops higher in the atmosphere. The light in theses raindrops is reflected twice causing the order of colors to be reversed.

So next time you see a rainbow instead of looking for the pot of gold simply enjoy their natural splendor.